There was so much blood on scene it was originally thought Carlos Castillo had been shot. But authorities said tonight that the Miami-Dade Police detective was struck in the head with a cinder block, beaten, and then run over with his own car after a routine traffic stop Friday in Liberty City.

Castillo was rushed to Ryder Trauma Center, where the 37-year-old married father of two remains in critical condition with multiple skull fractures and brain and spine injuries, as well as seven broken ribs and damage to several internal organs.

While some fellow officers gathered outside the hospital, others joined a massive, multi-agency SWAT- and helicopter-assisted manhunt that flushed out Castillo's assailant and his girlfriend.

Police said that Castillo was in Liberty City on robbery intervention detail when he pulled over a car carrying 33-year-old Michael Paul Robertson, Jr. and 25-year-old Monica Rene Banks.

Robertson, an ex-con who was already wanted by police for firing a gun during an argument with the mother of his child, fled on foot. Castillo placed Banks in handcuffs and called for backup.

Before reinforcements arrived, Robertson returned to the scene and bashed Castillo in the head from behind with a cinder block so forcefully that the block broke on impact. Witnesses say he proceeded to kick Castillo in the head and chest as he lay crumpled on the street. Robertson then slid behind the wheel of Castillo's Dodge Charger and ran over the officer as he drove off. While police shortly combed an area of more than 20 blocks near the scene at NW 71 Street and 3rd Avenue, Robertson sent word to officers that he would give himself up and was taken into custody.

He is charged with attempted first-degree murder, robbery/carjacking, aggravated assault with a firearm, and possession of a firearm by a felon. Banks, who watched as Robertson beat Castillo, was charged with accessory to attempted murder and attempted first-degree murder.

Also arrested were Robertson's father, 51-year-old Michael Paul Robertson, Sr., and his mother, name currently unknown. The elder Robertson was charged with battery on a police officer, but a department spokesperson indicated the couples' arrests were not directly related to the attack on Castillo. Miami-Dade Police Director James Loftus reported Saturday evening that Castillo has already undergone multiple surgeries as doctors work to save his life.

"When something like this happens to a police officer, a child, or any one who lives in the county, it should horrify all of us," Loftus said. "I don't know how human nature gets much worse than that. I really don't."

But authorities said tonight that the Miami-Dade Police detective was struck in the head with a cinder block, beaten, and then run over with his own car after a routine traffic stop Friday in Liberty City.

Sounds like somtething in a video game. People like this perp deserve to be hung; short rope and slow drop.

The area houses more than half of Miami-Dade County's nearly half a million African Americans and Afro-West Indians (as of 2000 Census). Liberty City's boundaries are roughly as follows: North 79th Street to the North, North 27th Avenue (Unity Boulevard) to the West, North 41st Street to the South, and Interstate 95 to the East (see #1 above)

Libery City is so 'famous' it has its own Wiki entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_City,_Miami,_Florida

Read more about it and understand where Hell is on earth..... or at least this piece of Hell.

Post5203 wrote:
“Of course we need to know if the cop acted stupidly to warrant this.

The post racial muslim is creating a world of hate.”

I read the article, and living out here in California, I can tell you I have seen too many “Un-Marked” Police Vehicles pulling people over.. Everything from old Hondas tinted windows with cop lights on the rear window shelf to regular everyday vehicles.
If your going to pull me over it better be a real police car with markings.

Seems like this guy got run over with his own vehicle.
Couldn’t pay me enough to be a cop.
Prayers to this detective, I don’t think he’ll be out there again.

15
posted on 04/25/2010 12:34:31 AM PDT
by 1FASTGLOCK45
(FreeRepublic: More fun than watching Dem'Rats drown like Turkeys in the rain! ! !)

OMG, when I first read this I thought he’d died, but he survived! Major prayers for complete healing and no brain damage, etc. for this young man! And prayers for his family and friends who I am sure are as appalled and dumbfounded as me!! :*(

First the story about the homeless dying on the sidewalk while 20 or 30 people *just walked past him*, now this?? I’m convinced that demons HAVE been released on earth, how else can you explain such callous, cold blooded, heartless actions against your fellow man?!? :*(

Liberty City is Miami’s version of a third world cesspool.
I drove through there after dropping a friend off at Miami International Airport one Friday evening a while back.
Glad to get out alive as my nice vehicle and white ass were truely NOT welcome.

I read the article, and living out here in California, I can tell you I have seen too many Un-Marked Police Vehicles pulling people over.. Everything from old Hondas tinted windows with cop lights.........Seems like this guy got run over with his own vehicle..............Couldnt pay me enough to be a cop.
****************************************************
The cops use Dodge Chargers now .. this wouldn’t have been a car the cops seized (stole) from someone.. the local cops get either V6 cars or the regular Hemi ,, the highway Patrol get SRT-8 big-dog Hemi 6.1 cars , the Crown Vics are going away... Someone on an earlier reply said that it sounded like a video game .. GTA ... they’re right

This was what caught my attention at first. Around my area, detectives don't make routine traffic stops. Traffic cops make routine traffic stops.

Around here, the traffic cops do use unmarked cars. Some of them were seized from drug dealers, and they get titles through asset forfeiture proceedings, so the car could be a lot of different makes and models. It wouldn't surprise me to get pulled over by an unmarked new model Dodge Charger.

But they install flashing red and blue lights and a loudspeaker in the grill, whether it's a seized vehicle or not. When the traffic cop gets out of the vehicle, you can always see very clearly that he's a uniformed police officer.

A plainclothes cop alone in an unmarked car, making a traffic stop, is asking for trouble even in a low crime area. In Liberty City, Florida it was reckless.

I read the article, and living out here in California, I can tell you I have seen too many Un-Marked Police Vehicles pulling people over.. Everything from old Hondas tinted windows with cop lights....

When the unmarked car pulled the subjects over, the detective should have instructed the subjects to stay in the car on the shoulder of the road, and immediately called for backup in a marked vehicle, unless the detective was in uniform. The news story doesn't mention the time of day, whether the detective was in uniform (it's rare but it does occur here in Illinois), or other circumstances regarding this incident. It also doesn't mention whether the car had flashing red and/or blue lights installed, or whether the detective put a magnetic temporary light on the roof of the car above the driver's door, or on the dashboard.

I'm sure that Castillo had already identified himself as a police officer, however, by the time he was assaulted. The story does tell us that Robertson had fled, and that Castillo had secured Banks in handcuffs. That provided plenty of time for Castillo to show his badge and, loudly and clearly, identify himself verbally as a police officer. I'm sure that he did so.

Safer police procedure has to be learned from this incident, and then adopted in similar circumstances. Detective Carlos Castillo made a mistake at the start of this traffic stop and has now, on behalf of every cop in the country, paid the tuition for this class. He should have waited for backup before he even got out of the car, particularly in a high crime area such as Liberty City. This needs to be learned.

We join you in praying for the recovery of Detective Castillo, and for his family at this difficult time.

21
posted on 04/25/2010 4:32:35 AM PDT
by Philo1962
(Iraq is terrorist flypaper. They go there to die.)

Yep...democrat voters for sure. I have actually taken to the habit of pointing out to my democrat acquaintances the fact that our jails are filled with former democrat voters, that the local police blotter is filled with democrat voters, that probably 90% of criminal activity is carried out by democrat voters. They invariably state that the thugs don’t vote. I say “right...election day is the one day of year they actually work!”

My crazy lib brother-in-law had his wallet stolen not long ago. I said there is about a 98% chance the dude now in possession of his cash voted for 0bama. My brother in law went crazy! Everybody else laughed.

detectives don’t make routine traffic stops. Traffic cops make routine traffic stops.
*******************************************
You’re right ,, he was a detective fishing in the local cesspool ... he thought he caught some guppies but instead caught a barracuda.

Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited 4X4 at the time.
Ya sit up real high so they could see ya real good.
Kid kept saying he had to go potty.
Low on fuel.
Go in your britches,
And we drive till we run out of gas.
It was about 10 days after the Hurricane that devestated south of Miami. NO road signs as they’d been blown away caused us to go to this wonderland in the 1st place.

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